New Restaurant on the Block
by PvZ Fan
Summary: After another failed attempt at stealing the Krabby Patty secret formula, Karen convinces Plankton to give up on stealing the formula and instead build a new restaurant, which worries Mr. Krabs when the restaurant becomes popular.
1. Admitting Defeat

_Hi everyone. My name is PvZ-Fan and I'm just a person who's decided to finally upload something onto this site. I've had this idea for a few months, so I've finally decided to write it down. So, I hope you enjoy reading._

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In the Chum Bucket, Karen was at a table shuffling a pack of cards for the family's weekly poker match. Spot was across from her, but Sheldon was nowhere in sight. Karen knew what he was doing though; another fruitless attempt at stealing the formula. She's watched the process a hundred times over: Sheldon announces a plan to steal the formula, he goes out to steal it, and he's sent back to the Chum Bucket with a tail between his legs and a vow for revenge. Now she's just waiting for Sheldon to come back so that they can play poker.

Just as she finishes that thought, a small green speck bursts through the Chum Bucket's entrance, zooming through the air uncontrollably while screaming his heart out. The speck crash lands on the table before he regains his senses and takes off his jetpack, now broken and leaking oil. Angered, he kicks the jetpack and stomps towards his spot on the table, sitting with a big pout on his face.

"How was today's attempt, Sheldon? Did you get the formula yet?" Karen asks with a taunting, yet loving tone in her voice.

"Don't sass me, Karen. You know exactly how it went, and I don't want to talk about it. Just pass me the cards." Plankton finishes with an agitated exhale and a glare into Karen's monitor.

Karen just rolls her eyes and starts handing out the cards to Plankton and Spot. Plankton receives his cards and scowls at them, displeased with his hand, but Spot happily accepts the cards, inserting them into his gelatinous body for safekeeping. Plankton, being the player to Karen's left, decides to bet, pushing a few chips to the table's center. Karen and Spot decide to follow suit, calling and putting some of their chips in the center. The betting ends and as Karen puts three cards on the table, she decides to talk with Plankton.

"So Sheldon, how did Krabs foil you this time?"

Plankton glances at his wife, before looking back at his hands. "If you must know, I tried a very forward approach this time. Wait until someone opened the safe, then swoop in with my jetpack, steal the formula, and fly back here so fast their heads would spin. However..."

Plankton halts to briefly grind his teeth from thinking of the failure, before flipping a chip towards the table's center. "Ol' Eugene had the sponge on pest control and he caught me, thinking that I was a measly rat-scallop. Imagine me, the great Sheldon J. Plankton, being mistaken for VERMIN!" He slams the table in anger, though nothing moves. "Have I really sunk this low? Surely I would have had success at stealing the formula by now? Karen, do you believe I'll ever steal the formula?"

Karen pauses, her gaze refusing to meet Plankton's. He notices Karen's silence and slowly becomes agitated. Spot, oblivious to the drama unfurling around him, nudges a chip to the table's center and looks at Karen, waiting for her turn.

"Karen, look me in the eye and say that I will get the formula. Tell me that my decades-long quest will eventually be achieved." Karen stays silent, her monitor still on her cards. "Karen, speak to me. You can't ignore me forever."

Karen finally turns to Plankton and looks him in the eye. "Plankton, I think you should give up stealing the formula."

Plankton stares at Karen, refusing to believe what she just uttered. Refusing to believe that even his wife as given up on him. He can't handle it. He throws his cards away and starts flipping chips and cards everywhere in a screaming rampage. Spot leaps off the table in fright and hides behind Karen, who looks at her husband in worry. Plankton continues to destroy the poker set up, with chips and cards flying to every corner of the room. Finally, Plankton slows down and eventually loses composure, breaking down completely and crying as he curls up into a ball. Karen picks up Plankton and begins cradling him in her arms.

"I'm sorry Plankton, but you have to admit it. You've been trying to steal the formula everyday for over 25 years, and no success. Shouldn't it be time to stop this feud?"

Karen's cradling soothes Plankton and reduces his crying, though he still sniffles a bit. "Maybe you're right. But what would I do? I've dedicated my life to try and get the formula."

"I believe the first step would be burying the hatchet with Krabs. Since you'll stop stealing the formula, maybe your friendship will rekindle. The two of you may even be best friends again."

Plankton scoffs. "Krabs would never believe me. Especially after the time where I lied about stopping the 'steal the formula' business. But he should know all the same."

Plankton leaps out of Karen's arms and heads towards the Chum Bucket's entrance. "I'll be back in a few minutes Karen. Clean up the place while I'm gone."

Plankton leaves and Karen realizes just how big of a mess he had made during his breakdown. She sighs and goes to grab a broom as Spot follows her, interested in Karen now that Plankton has left.


	2. Konfessing to Krabs

_Hi, it's me chapter is a lot longer than I thought it would be. It sort of balances out how small the first chapter was. Anyways, happy reading!_

Business in the Krusty Krab has been booming, as usual. SpongeBob has served dozens of Bikini Bottomites while Squidward has ignored said Bottomites. The squid has been sitting in his station, reading the latest rerelease of_ Everybody Aplomb Now_ as a line of hungry customers glare at him. But Squidward doesn't care; he's been waiting for this read for months and he WILL read it, even at the expense of others.

While he reads, someone begins coughing, trying to catch his attention. He ignores it at first, but Squidward's temper has become easier to trigger over the years; being neighbours with people as annoying as SpongeBob and Patrick does that sometimes. As the coughing intensifies, Squidward decides to peer over his manual and check out who's annoying him, and what he finds surprises him.

"Plankton?" Squidward is a bit surprised at the megalomaniac. Plankton is usually sneaking around every which way, using costumes, gadgets, and anything else to try and steal the formula. For him to be sitting on the Krusty Krab cash register talking face-to-face to Squidward without any obvious plans is rather... odd.

"Yes, it is me." Plankton confirms. "I have an important announcement for you, the sponge, and most importantly Krabs."

Squidward is, of course, suspicious of Plankton's request. He crawls out of his workstation towards his boss' office, opening the door and peering into it. Mr. Krabs is inside, counting cash as usual, but stops when he notices Squidward.

"What do ya want, Mr. Squidward? You being here means you're not out there taking orders." The crab continues to count cash as he says this, never looking up to directly address his employee.

"Someone wants to see you, sir." Squidward answers, slightly worried about the circumstances of his request.

"I'm a bit busy at the moment, but send them in anyhow. Unless they have complaints, that's for you to handle."

Out of Krabs' eye, he sees Squidward motion someone to come inside, though he doesn't see who or what comes in. Squidward leaves, and Krabs still doesn't see anyone else inside the office. He starts to think that Squidward may be pulling his leg, though realises that Squidward isn't one for jokes. Well, except for that one April Fools' Day where-

"Hello, Eugene."

Krabs stops his thoughts right there. He knows that voice all too well.

"Plankton!" Krabs whispers to himself as he looks over his money and finds the speck himself on his desk staring straight into his eyestalks. "What are ya doin' in me office, Plankton?! I've kicked you out twice today, and I'll do it again!"

"Eugene, please. I have an announcement for you and your workers, one that you'll be surprised to hear."

Krabs glares at Plankton for a while, before getting off his seat and heading to the door. "I don't know what you're pulling, Plankton, but you have five minutes." Krabs opens his office door and turns to his employees. "SpongeBob! Squidward! In me office NOW!"

Squidward, suspecting this being related to Plankton, begrudgingly exits his workstation as SpongeBob gets out of the kitchen through the order window, landing next to Squidward. SpongeBob opens the office door and enters. As Squidward goes to join him, one of the customers, an olive green fish by the name of Jimmy Gus, moves towards them.

"Wait. If you two are in there, who's going to be out here serving us food?" His question is accompanied by a chorus of voices muttering and questioning the same thing.

Squidward, however, doesn't care. "I don't know and I don't care. If you're so hungry for food, cook it yourselves."

The squid enters the office, leaving the customers to talk amongst themselves. One customer, Shubie, looks around in though before having an idea.

"Well," Shubie starts, "He DID say that we could cook the food ourselves. Does anyone here how to cook?" Her question is met with a wave of unsure mutters and curious gazes as everyone realises that no-one here knows how to cook.

However, one small red fish raises his fin. "I know how to cook! I've done so for years! I've even worked at Fancy!"

The crowd gasps; if a fish has cooked for one of Bikini Bottom's most prestigious restaurants, they must know their way around the kitchen.

"Let's hear it for Archie!" Shubie yells as everyone cheers and picks up Archie, making their way to the order window before tossing him into the kitchen.

"Now get to work!" The customers demand as they immediately go back to their tables in wait for food. As Archie gains his bearings from being thrown into the kitchen, he realises what he's gotten himself into; cooking for 30+ hungry fish in an unfamiliar kitchen.

"Me and my big mouth..." Archie mutters as he looks around the kitchen, hoping to find the ingredients needed to satisfy a hungry restaurant.

In the office, Plankton is sitting on Mr. Krabs' desk surrounded by the workers of the Krusty Krab, each of them wondering what the plankton has in store for them.

Mr Krabs is, obviously, the first one to comment on the situation. "So, Plankton, why have ya gathered us here? What is this big announcement that ya have to tell us?"

SpongeBob chimes in next. "Ooh, maybe he's got another pet! I've heard sand fleas have been popular recently."

Squidward follows. "SpongeBob, do you really think Plankton would come into the Krusty Krab just to tell us that he has a pet?"

SpongeBob nods, not surprising the squid in the least. Plankton coughs, regaining the attention of the group.

"If you would let me speak, I will tell all." He speaks with a glum tone in his voice, something Krabs notices. "I've been trying to steal the Krabby Patty secret formula every day for over 25 years. Thousands of plans, wasted. Hundred of hours, lost. My entire life dedicated to try and steal a simple ''recipe'' and failing every single time! It's _INSANITY_!"

The Krusty Krewmembers move away from Plankton's outburst, and the scientist breathes in and out calmly. Him being angry will not help him at all in this delicate situation.

"What I'm trying to say is that with the help of my computer wife, I've realised how obsessed I've been with the formula. It's time I bury the hatchet, Krabs. From this day on, I will stop stealing the formula!"

SpongeBob gasps, and even Squidward is shocked at the announcement. Mr. Krabs, however, is not convinced. "Nice try, Plankton. You've pulled this before."

SpongeBob holds up a book entitled ''_Plankton's Plans_'' and opens it up. "Exactly. Plan 73a: Plankton fakes a truce and opens a gift shop in hopes of fooling Mr. Krabs into thinking that he's given up, eventually leading Mr. Krabs to bond with Plankton and give him the formula as a sign of trust. A shame though; the Chumporium sold the best snow globes I've ever seen."

Plankton looks at the group, urging them to calm down. "I assure you all that this time I've gone straight. You can test me if you want."

Mr. Krabs opens up his desk, flinging Plankton off it and making him land on SpongeBob's spongy body. After a while, Krabs takes out a mobile lie detector and closes his desk. Plankton bounces off of SpongeBob's body and back onto the desk, knowing what's to come.

"A lie detector, Eugene? You really don't trust me that much, do you? Fine, let's get this over with."

Mr. Krabs moves one part of the lie detector over Plankton's head and keeps an eye on the meter found in the lie detector's second part. "Plankton, do you swear on Neptune's name that you are not going to steal the formula from now on?"

Plankton rolls his eye and places a hand on his chest. "I, Sheldon J. Plankton, do solemnly swear on King Neptune's name that I will not try to steal the Krabby Patty secret formula, or help anyone steal said formula, for the rest of my life."

The lie detector begins to hum, calculating Plankton's brainwaves and vital signs and turning them into information to decide whether Plankton is lying or not. After a while, the machine stops humming and its arrow moves towards an option on the detector; "Truth."

Mr. Krabs is flabbergasted at the revelation. Could Plankton actually be calling it quits after all this time? The crab looks at the plankton, who is staring at him with his single eye. Inside Krabs, anger begins to build.

"I don't know how you passed by a lie detector, but you still aren't foolin' me, Plankton!" He states, his blood starting to boil as Plankton backs away in surprise.

"Eugene! You still think I'm going to steal the formula? I passed a lie detector test. I swore on Neptune's name! I've done all this and you still don't want to bury the hatchet?"

Mr. Krabs leaps from his chair onto his desk, knocking Plankton off and onto the ground as SpongeBob and Squidward back away. "YES!" He shouts, veins appearing in his eyes. "I'm not falling for this charade again, Plankton. Now get out before I kick you out!"

Plankton has had it. He feels the tears welling up, but he just turns to face the door. "Fine! If that's how you want it, I'll leave! Goodbye, Krabs!"

He opens the door and dashes out of the office towards the entrance as the Krusty Krewmembers look on from the office. SpongeBob tries to follow him but Squidward grabs his arm. "Now's not the right time, SpongeBob. He needs a break." SpongeBob nods in understanding.

Mr. Krabs calms down, his eyes wide in realisation what he's done. "I need some time to rest. You two take care of the customers."

It's at this point that Squidward notices that the customers are happily eating food, despite their absence. Money has been left in front of the cash register, and a hiss of food on the grill can be heard. "Wait, who's been cooking while we were gone?"

Squidward and SpongeBob go to the kitchen to investigate, and Mr. Krabs turns away from his office to join them. They enter the kitchen, and Archie drops his spatula, surprised that the staff were back. "W-wait! I can explain!" Archie pleads, fins covering himself defensively.

Mr. Krabs goes up to the worried fish. "You've been cooking for me customers? Why?"

Archie nervously points to Squidward. "Well, he told us to cook our own food while the fry cook was gone, a-and I volunteered."

Mr. Krabs thinks this over for a while, before smiling. "A volunteer, huh? Well, since you're doing so well, how about I make you an honorary crew member?"

Archie is startled at the crab's words; he didn't expect this to escalate this quickly. "Wait, wait, wait!"

But before Archie can react, Mr. Krabs has grabbed him by the pants and is dragging him to the office, with Archie pleading the crab to let him go all the while. SpongeBob turns to Squidward with a happy smile on his face. "We're getting a new friend, Squidward! Isn't that great?"

At this point, Squidward has walked back to his station and started to read _Everybody Aplomb Now_. SpongeBob shrugs, and starts cooking patties for the next batch of hungry customers.


	3. The Discovery

_I'm back with another chapter._

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Karen looks around the Chum Bucket, scanning the room and happily discovering that no remnants of Sheldon's earlier meltdown remain. There were still issues with the leaking pipes, the rusted furniture and the aggressive swarm of sea spiders hiding in the ventilation shaft, but she'll fix them later. An alarm rings, and she notices the time in her internal clock.

"Six o'clock already?" Cleaning the Chum Bucket must have taken her a lot longer than she thought. It didn't help when Spot tried to eat all the poker chips and cards; despite Sheldon's teachings, the amoeba was still an animal at heart, and he considered any object able to fit into his gelatinous body food.

Karen goes to enter the kitchen when the front doors open. She looks and sees that Plankton has returned, though with a glum look on his face. Concerned, she goes over to him.

"Sheldon? What's wrong? Did Mr. Krabs give you flak about your intent to give up the formula?" She bends down to pick up Plankton, placing him in her hand.

"Eugene didn't believe me! I told him that I'm giving up on getting the formula, and he goes on a paranoid rage and kicks me out!"

A slot opens up in Karen's monitor, and she takes a copy of "_Plankton's Plans_" out with her free hand and opens it to a page. "Well, Plan 73a DID have you faking your surrender so that Eugene would eventually give the formula to you in a moment of trust. If something like that happened to me, I would be cautious as well."

Plankton shoots a glare at his wife. "You're not helping, Karen. And besides, I've told him anyhow. Krabs and his workers can either continue being paranoid about me or accept the facts." His stomach rumbles, causing Plankton to look at it in surprise. "Now let's forget all these things and get some grub. All this drama made me work up such an appetite."

Karen takes Plankton to the kitchen, where he hops out of her hand and onto a deep fryer, turning it on in preparation for tonight's dinner. He then hops onto the pantry door, fiddles with the handle and opens it up with excitement, though he frowns in realization when he sees what's inside.

"Oh, right. We have no food. We're broke!" He jumps from the pantry to the bench and slumps over in thought. "What are we going to eat?"

Karen motions over to the far edge of the bench, where a bucket of chum lays. "Well, we could try eating chum. It's the only thing here that's remotely food-like."

Plankton looks at Karen in a combination of concern and disbelief. "Have you blown a fuse? Chum is the most disgusting thing this side of the Atlantic Ocean. No one wants to eat it, and I'm not going to anytime soon."

Karen knew he was right; no one in their right mind would ever eat the Chum Bucket's chum. The only people she's seen buy chum were criminals, maniacs and people that she's had to pay to buy it, and even then most of them never ate it. But it was the only food they could get at such short notice, so it had to do.

"Come on, honey. What else are we going to eat? Spot's amoeba food is off-limits, though; we both know what happened last time."

Plankton shudders at the thought. It was a sad day when he had to eat amoeba food, and an even sadder day when he found out he was allergic. "Fine, I'll try the chum." He states as he makes his way over to the bucket and picks it up. "But rest assured I will not-"

Before Plankton can finish his sentence, Spot emerges from the bucket and barks at him, scaring the genius and making him instinctively throw the bucket away. However, he manages to throw it in the direction of the active deep fryer, causing him and Karen to scream and clamber towards their flying pet.

"SPOT! NO!" Plankton shrieks as he leaps towards the deep fryer. He bounds over it and catches Spot in midair before tumbling to the benchtop. The bucket of chum, however, is not so lucky, and lands in the deep fryer with a splash. Not that anyone minds, as Plankton and Karen are checking Spot over for injuries.

After a while, Spot is deemed injury-free, but Plankton gives the pet a concerned look. "Spot, I've told you time and time again to stop sleeping in the chum! Just because it's warm doesn't mean it's a good place to nap." Spot, in response, licks his owner's face, causing Plankton to loosen up. "I can't stay mad at you, Spot. You're one of my only true companions in this town, along with Karen, of course. Isn't that right, Karen?"

He looks up and finds that Karen isn't there. Rather, she's using a pair of tongs to gently remove the bucket of chum from the deep fryer. By this point, both the bucket and chum are covered in a crispy, golden brown shell. Karen looks at the mess and shakes her monitor.

"Look at this mess. Our only source of food, deep fried." She sighs before turning to Plankton and Spot. "At least Spot is alright."

She goes to Spot and starts petting him as Plankton looks at the deep-fried chum curiously. He goes to the deep-fried bucket and takes out a piece of chum. He sniffs it, looks at the chum from several angles, and licks it before finally taking a big bite out of the chum. By this point, Karen and Spot are looking at Plankton in worry.

"Sheldon, what are you doing?"

After Plankton chews the chum for a while, he swallows it. His eye suddenly widens, and he turns to the rest of his family, who react with shock. "Karen, this is delicious! You have to try this."

Karen and Spot, however, back away in fear. "Oh no! The deep-fried chum has destroyed his brain and turned him into a zombie, and now he's trying to infect us! Spot, you go find help. I'll try to prevent him from spreading!"

Spot goes to leave while Karen opens a drawer and grabs a rolling pin for defence. Plankton looks at the two and rolls his eye. "Calm down! I'm not infected. It's just that this deep-fried chum is the best thing I've ever tasted! Karen, go ahead and scan it for yourself."

Karen, still unsure about Plankton, grabs the chum and holds it to her scanner. The scanner detects the chum and scans it, calculating and displaying some information on Karen's monitor. "Fascinating. The deep-fried shell covering the chum acts as a shield, preventing the chum's flavour from overwhelming that of the shell's. We've basically made chum edible!"

Plankton's eye widens at that statement. "Edible chum? From deep-frying it?" He stops for a moment to think, before a smile crawls onto his face. "Why stop at chum? If we can improve the taste of chum by deep-frying it, theoretically the same will happen to other foods. Anything we fry will taste better. We'll make millions." He turns and looks at Karen. "We've done it. We've found a way to make money, and I didn't need the formula!"

Karen smiles and grabs Plankton, pulling him towards her as they start cheering their discovery. Spot joins the fun by running around Karen's wheels, barking his heart out. After a while, Karen picks up Spot, and Plankton looks at them with determination.

"Karen, Spot. Get ready. For tomorrow, we rebrand!"


	4. Krabs Finds Competition

_Hi everyone. This chapter will be longer than the rest, but it'll be worth the read._

* * *

The next morning, the Krusty Krewmembers are walking down the path to the Krusty Krab. While SpongeBob is talking to the others about whatever comes to mind, Mr. Krabs is staring at the ground in thought. After his argument with Plankton yesterday, he began to regret his outburst. What if Plankton _has_ changed? Could it just be his paranoia acting up again?

As Mr. Krabs thinks, Squidward notices the crab's concerned look. "You OK, Mr. Krabs?"

Hearing someone call to him brings Krabs back to the real world, where his employees are giving him curious looks. "Sorry, Mr. Squidward." He apologises. "It's just that I've been thinkin' about what happened to Plankton yesterday."

Squidward raises an eyebrow at him. "You mean when you kicked him out of the Krusty Krab because you were too paranoid to believe that he had gone straight?"

Krabs sighs. "Yes, that incident. Maybe I've been a bit too harsh on him."

Squidward gives an unsure glance. "Are you sure? You were pretty convinced that Plankton was trying to fool you."

SpongeBob pops up next to Squidward, startling the squid. "And remember, Plankton has already tried a scheme like this before?" He reaches a hand into his head and pulls out his copy of _Plankton's Plans_, before opening it up to a page and pointing to it. "See? Plan 73a. The book doesn't lie."

Krabs pushes the book away from him. "Yes, I'm aware of which exact plan it was. The point is, maybe I'm the one at fault. Have I always been this paranoid?"

SpongeBob and Squidward share a nervous look. They remember how Mr. Krabs went on a paranoia-fueled craze a few months ago due to Plankton's lack of attacks, and it got so bad he kicked the two out and holed himself up in the Krusty Krab because he thought everyone was working with Plankton. The entire thing was just a misunderstanding, but it showed how out of hand Krabs' paranoia could get.

Krabs notices the nervous look of his employees and sighs. "OK, so maybe I have. But I need to be to protect the formula. Plankton has tried many schemes over the years. He's been changin'. Evolvin'. Coming up with new plans every day. Who knows what his next plan is. I've got to be prepared for any-"

"Excuse me?"

The three look up and spy a rich-looking woman walking towards them. "I need some help. Could any of you give me the-"

"FORMULA?" Mr. Krabs finishes with an outburst, scaring the others. "Nice try, Plankton! I'm not falling for you and your fancy robots again!"

Mr. Krabs dives at the woman, knocking some of her expensive jewellery off her. The two start fighting as SpongeBob and Squidward watch in horror, with Squidward eventually covering SpongeBob's eyes with his tentacles. After a while, the fighting stops, and Mr. Krabs stands atop the rich fish with a pleased grin on his face as he looks at his employees.

"See, boys? Plankton will never get the jump on me as long as I live." He looks at the rich fish, grabs her hair with a claw and starts pulling it. "Now to unmask the fiend and show you that I'm completely-"

A loud rip is heard, and Mr. Krabs looks at the hair he had pulled out, and back at the woman. Instead of broken wires, clanking metal and the cursing of a plankton, he instead sees the utter fury of a rich aristocrat. Mr. Krabs slowly realises what he's truly done as the rich woman grabs him by the shirt.

"How _DARE_ you?! I am Lady Mildred Upturn the three-hundred-and-thirty-third, and I have never been so insulted in all my years!" The rich woman smacks Mr. Krabs repeatedly with her purse before lifting him over her head and slamming him into the ground. She quickly collects her jewellery and hair before leaving in a huff, talking to herself about never asking commoners for the time again.

SpongeBob and Squidward gather around Mr. Krabs, worry spread on their faces. SpongeBob lends a hand to his boss, who uses it to support himself off the ground. "Not to be mean, Mr. Krabs, but that _really_ looked like your paranoia got out of hand."

Squidward gives SpongeBob an annoyed glare as Mr. Krabs regains his senses. "Alright, fine. I worry too much about Plankton. I'm ill with insanity due to him. A case of Plankton paranoia, if you will."

"I won't." Squidward states.

"But I suppose if Plankton is actually sincere about the formula, then I'll go and apologise to him today. I'll go over to the Chum Bucket over there, and... Wait a minute."

As Krabs points in the direction of the Chum Bucket, he looks and finds that the building opposite the Krusty Krab is not the Chum Bucket. He rushes over to investigate, with SpongeBob and Squidward running to catch up with him. They reach the building and look at it curiously.

Where the Chum Bucket once stood is a large building that resembles a large deep fryer tray turned upside down. Two large glass doors are on the building's front, and above the doors is a sign that reads ''The Fry-Right Zone'' in a neon green light.

SpongeBob turns to the others, curiosity and amazement twinking in his eye. "The Fry-Right Zone? I wonder who owns this place."

Krabs, meanwhile, looks at the restaurant in suspicion. "What I want ta know is where Plankton's restaurant went? Has he left?"

"You wish, Krabs."

The Krusty Krewmembers turn to the source of the voice. The doors of the new restaurant open, and Plankton and Karen step out towards them, with Karen also pushing a food cart.

"Hello, Eugene." Plankton quips. "Do you like my new restaurant?"

"New restaurant?" Mr. Krabs looks at Plankton, confused. "Why did ya build a new restaurant?"

"It's part of the new me, Eugene. I've given up the formula, and I've changed my restaurant plan! Now, instead of a chum-themed restaurant, I own Bikini Bottom's only restaurant that's dedicated to the art of deep frying."

Squidward skeptically looks over the building. "How did you manage to build a restaurant overnight? Aren't you broke?"

Plankton "Well, yes, but I have spare parts from my many, many, _many_ failed inventions. Plus, Karen can have extra arms when needed. Many arms make light work, you know."

As Plankton talks, Karen opens up holes on her body and extends three more sets of arms from said holes. She demonstrates the arms' usefulness by grabbing various condiment bottles from the cart and juggling them, before throwing them into the air and balancing them, one stacked on the other, on her finger. SpongeBob applauds Karen, who smiles as she puts the condiments back.

Mr. Krabs looks back to Plankton, a more serious expression appearing on the crab's face. "Plankton, I've come to apologise. What happened yesterday was out of order, and I'm sorry I was so-"

"Paranoid?" Plankton finishes. "Well, maybe that wouldn't have happened if you trusted me."

Krabs looks at Plankton, surprised and slightly offended by the remark. "Well, maybe I would trust you if you didn't try to steal the formula."

Plankton gives Krabs an annoyed glare. "Well, maybe if you didn't have a successful formula, I wouldn't try and steal it."

Krabs steps towards Plankton, anger in his eyes. "Well, maybe if..." Krabs stops, unable to think of a comeback. He gives up on words and goes to charge at Plankton. Plankton goes to try and fight him, but Karen pulls Plankton as Mr. Krabs is pulled away by SpongeBob and Squidward. Krabs and Plankton calm down, and Krabs turns to leave.

"Fine," Krabs says in a huff. "Don't accept my apology. Your restaurant won't get any customers anyway.."

"That's what you think, Krabs!" Plankton looks down the road and smiles. "Oh look, potential customers!"

As Plankton says that, three fish are walking down the street towards the Fry-Right Zone; Nat Peterson and his friends, Tom and Nancy Suzy Fish. As they approach the Fry-Right Zone, Plankton and Karen move in front of them, startling them. Nat, upon noticing who it is, quickly regains his composure and glares at Plankton.

"What do _you_ want, Plankton?" Nat questions.

Sheldon realises who he's talking to, and his smile weakens. "O-oh, hi Nat. Are you still mad from the chum thing?"

Nat's glare intensifies. "Yes, I'm still mad about the chum thing! Now, why are you bothering us?"

"Because I have a new menu of items for you and your friends to enjoy!" Plankton hops onto his food cart and opens it up, digging around inside it before grabbing hold of something. "My first item is an oldie, but a goodie." He pulls out a stick with golden brown food surrounding the top of the stick. "Behold; the Chumstick!"

Upon hearing the name "chumstick", Nat screams and leaps behind Tom and Nancy, shaking in fright. "Get that food AWAY from me! I had to get my stomach pumped sixteen times due to chumsticks! I refuse to eat that abomination again!"

Plankton frowns at Nat before turning to Nancy. "How about you, miss? Do you want a chumstick?"

Nancy, predictably, backs away. She then grabs Tom and puts him in the place she was standing. "Tom, how about _you_ try the chumstick? After all, you're the resident foodie. You'll love it!"

Tom nervously grabs the chumstick and looks back at Nat and Nancy. Nancy is giving Tom a nervous thumbs-up as she tries to soothe Nat, who is shaking and muttering incohesive babble as he stares into the distance. Tom gains some nerves and eventually starts sniffing the chumstick, looking it from various, and licking it. He then shrugs to himself and takes a big bite out of the chumstick, food, stick and all.

As he chews, Plankton goes up to him bearing a big grin. "So, how does it taste?"

Tom eventually swallows the meal, and his eyes widen as he absentmindedly looks into the distance. In his mind, he sees fireworks exploding. In his mouth, a flavour-filled rave is going on. As he sinks into the absolute bliss of the taste, he can vaguely make out someone calling his name.

"Tom?" a voice asks.

"Tom?" the same voice asks, somewhat louder.

"TOM!"

Back in the real world, Tom is in a food-fueled trance, drooling with a wide smile on his mouth. Nancy is grabbing him by the shirt and slapping him repeatedly, panic in her eyes. "Tom? Tom, come back! Tom! Don't give up on me Tom! I'm not losing another friend to food!" She slaps him again, finally bringing him back to reality. Nancy notices and tearfully hugs him. "Oh, thank Neptune! I thought you were past the point of no return!"

Tom, while appreciative of the care, slowly peels Nancy off him. "No, I'm fine. It's just that this chumstick was the _best _thing I have ever tasted!"

Tom's response is a shock to everyone. Plankton and Karen high-five, smug about their success. Nat and Nancy look at each other, both concerned for Tom's safety. SpongeBob and Squidward, while still surprised, are nowhere near the amount of shock Mr. Krabs feels. Krabs is utterly flabbergasted. How can something Plankton made, with chum no less, apparently taste so good?

Nancy goes up to Tom and takes the chumstick, giving it a curious look. "How can food like this be so delicious?"

Nat goes up to her and starts examining the chumstick as well. "Especially something made from chum."

Karen pushes the food cart towards the fish as Plankton walks towards them. "That, my friends, is due to my new cooking method." He presses a button on the cart, and a large hole opens up, a deep fryer exiting out of it. "At the Fry-Right Zone, we will fry anything and everything to the perfect degree for maximum tastiness. What your friend just had was one of my chumsticks, but deep-fried. What was once an abomination to food everywhere is now your friend's new favourite dish."

Nancy and Nat look at Tom, who is sucking the chumstick dry of any nutrients it had. After finishing, he eats the stick and rushes over to the cart. "Do you have another chumstick? I have to have another."

Plankton gives a small smile to Tom. "Unfortunately, no." Tom frowns, but Plankton lifts his chin up. "But don't worry! When I said the Fry-Right Zone will fry anything and everything, we MEANT anything and everything."

Nancy stops and thinks for a moment before getting an idea. "Anything and everything?"

"Yes. Give us an object or food item and we will deep-fry it for your pleasure."

Nancy, upon hearing this, grabs her white wig off her head and replaces it with another. She then holds out the wig for Plankton. "Can you deep-fry my wig?"

Everyone looks at Nancy questionably, with Plankton slowly taking the wig. "Well, yes, but why?"

Nancy, in response, shrugs her shoulders. "Why not? You said yourself that you would fry anything and everything."

Mr. Krabs smiles to himself; he doubts the 'deep-frying everything' will work. "Yeah, Plankton! I thought you could fry anything! Well then; show us."

Plankton grumbles at Krabs' taunting as he turns to the deep fryer and tosses Nancy's wig in. A few seconds later, the fryer's timer rings, and Karen uses some tongs to pull out Nancy's wig, now covered in a crispy golden brown layer. Karen hands the wig to Nancy, who looks at it suspiciously before shrugging and taking a bite out of it. After a few chews, she smiles and turns to her friends.

"Guys, you should try this! This is the tastiest hair I've ever eaten!"

Tom snatches the wig from Nancy and takes a bite of it as well. His eyes widen at the taste, and both he and Nancy look at the wig before slowly meeting each others' gaze. The two then get into a tug-of-war over the wig.

"Let go of the wig, Tom."

"No!"

"It's my wig, so I get to eat it."

"Says who?"

"Says ME!"

As the two argue over the wig, Nat approaches Plankton. "If your food is good enough to make people fight over it, it mustn't be that bad. I'll have some."

Plankton grins as he turns to the Fry-Right Zone's entrance. "Fantastic! Follow me and I'll serve you the best food of your life."

Karen pushes Plankton and the food cart into the Fry-Right Zone as Nat follows. Nancy and Tom notice Nat entering the Fry-Right Zone and accidentally rip the wig in half. They look at their half of the wig in surprise, before eating it and going into the restaurant for more food. Mr. Krabs watches them leaves, incensed with Plankton's progress.

SpongeBob taps him on the shoulder, trying to get the crab's attention. "Mr. Krabs, what are you going to do about Plankton's restaurant? Should we be worried?"

Krabs' fury dies down, but he still glares at the restaurant as he turns to leave. "Not yet, boyo. It's just a few customers. We'll still get business at the Krusty Krab. Just a little less business."

Mr. Krabs goes to the Krusty Krab to open it, and SpongeBob and Squidward swore they heard Mr. Krabs quietly crying under his breath. Plankton's success has hit him hard, and it would only hit harder.


	5. Fighting Back

_Sorry I've been gone for a bit. Some life stuff happened, but now here's a bit of a big chapter._

* * *

A few hours later, Mr. Krabs was sitting in his office, thinking of what happened with Plankton. The evil genius had rebranded and had actually managed to attract some customers for the first time in... well, forever. Mr. Krabs could sense the trouble that this could bring; Plankton having customers meant that he's a step closer to becoming a legitimate rival in the food business. He's already stolen three customers, and that's three customers too many.

As Krabs thinks, he notices that the atmosphere of the restaurant is... off. "Something's wrong." He leaves his desk and opens his office door to an alarming sight; an empty restaurant. "Where are all me customers?"

Squidward, who's currently washing a nearby window, turns to look at him. "We haven't had a customer all morning. The only people who have been here are you, me and SpongeBob."

Mr. Krabs can't believe his ears; no customers? He walks to the door and checks the open/closed sign, finding that it is indeed set to 'open.' He looks out onto the street to see if anyone is coming, but he finds no one.

"It's not all bad, though," Squidward comments with a smile. "It's given me time to do a bit of cleaning. Do you know how _filthy_ these windows can get?"

As Mr. Krabs questions the lack of customers, the front doors open, and Debbie Rechid and her son, Ryan, enter. Krabs instantly notices them and goes to greet the newcomers. "Good morning and welcome to the finest eating establishment this side of Bikini Bottom! What would you like?"

Debbie puts a fin to her mouth in thought. "Hmm. Could I get some double deep-fried coral chunks with a side of two lightly salted seaweed salads for me and a Frytabulous Fried Fun Pack meal for my son? He's been wanting it ever since this morning."

While Mr. Krabs would easily tell SpongeBob to get to work cooking the orders, he needs to stop and process what the barnacles this lady just ordered. "We don't sell any of that malarky."

Ryan, in response, starts jumping around impatiently. "No no no! I want my Frytabulous Fried Fun Pack meal, and I want it now!"

Debbie glares at her son. "Ryan, behave or you won't have anything from the Fry-Right Zone!" After she says this, she looks around the restaurant curiously. "This IS the Fry-Right Zone, isn't it?"

Mr. Krabs, upon hearing his nemesis' restaurant, narrows his eyes. He's not giving Plankton any more customers. "Why yes, this is the Fry-Right Zone, where all your deep-frying dreams come true!" He turns to the rest of the restaurant and motions towards it. "In the Fry-Right Zone, we fry only the utmost-" He glances back and notices Debbie and her son leaving. He immediately moves between them and the exit. "Wait! Why are ya leaving? Don't ya want yer food?"

Debbie stares at the crab with an unamused look on her face. "No, because we've realised that the Fry-Right Zone is on the other side of the street." She points past Krabs to said restaurant, and he gapes in shock as he notices several fish entering it. Debbie and Ryan walk past Mr. Krabs and out the door, with Ryan blowing a raspberry.

As Krabs stands in shock, he thinks over the recent happenings: Plankton, his arch-nemesis, creates a new restaurant. Said restaurant suddenly becomes popular. This results in the disappearance of 30+ hungry customers from the Krusty Krab. He eventually to a conclusion, one which he dreads to think of.

"Plankton's stealing me customers. His restaurant is becoming so popular, people are mistaking _my_ restaurant for _his_!" He turns to Squidward and grabs him by the arms before staring into his eyes. "He must be using some kind of mind-control device to lure everyone to his restaurant. There's no way that his restaurant can be popular without foul play involved. There's no way!"

Mr. Krabs starts shaking Squidward to emphasise his point. As he does this, the doors of the Krusty Krab open and Archie walks in, a nervous smile plastered on his face. Krabs, upon realising who has arrived, tosses Squidward away and approaches his newest employee. "Archie! How are ya, boyo?"

Archie, in response, nervously scratches the back of his neck. "I-I'm fine, Mr. Krabs, but I have something I want to talk about. Something you're not going to like."

He hands Krabs a piece of paper, which the crab grabs and reads. After a few moments, he looks at Archie in shock. "What do you mean you resign?!"

The outburst catches the attention of SpongeBob and Squidward, who start to eavesdrop. Archie takes a step back. "Well, i-it's not because of the restaurant or anything, this place is wonderful, but it's sort of the fact that you _forcefully_ drafted me onto the team after I cooked for you."

Krabs folds his arms together "Well, if you're cooking in my restaurant, ya may as well be part of the crew."

SpongeBob slides out of the kitchen window towards the two, a sad look in his eye. "It's a shame that you're leaving, Archie. You were a good teammate for someone who worked only one day."

SpongeBob hugs Archie as Squidward walks over to join the conversation. "Have you found another grease trap to work at yet?"

Archie, though happy for the hug, slowly pushes SpongeBob off of him. "Actually, yes! I'm going there as soon as I leave. It's not even that far, either." He goes to the front doors and opens them, looking back at the others. "Goodbye, guys."

As Archie leaves, the Krusty Krewmembers wave goodbye; well, SpongeBob and Mr. Krabs are, as SpongeBob is holding Squidward's tentacle and waving for him. They watch as Archie approaches the intersection... and keeps going. The waving stops as Mr. Krabs realises that Archie is heading straight for the Fry-Right Zone, where Plankton and Karen are waiting. He looks on in outrage as Archie and Plankton shake hands.

"WHAT?! He's working for Plankton?!" Krabs flips over a table in rage, before kicking a barrel across the restaurant. "First Plankton steals me customers, and now he steals me staff! This has gone on for far too long."

SpongeBob slowly approaches his boss, scared and worried for the crab. "But what will we do, Mr. Krabs?"

Mr. Krabs smiles, a plan formulating. "I have the perfect idea: a special promotion! A product that will attract me customers back from Plankton's grasp."

Squidward raises an eyebrow, curious at Mr. Krabs' plan. "But we need something to sell and something to attract attention to our promotion. We have nothing."

Mr. Krabs walks towards Squidward's workstation and picks up the phone's receiver. "Don't worry, Mr. Squidward. I have it all planned out. When this works, Plankton will be put out of business and I'll be number one once again!" He laughs, and begins to dial a number.

* * *

_**One Half-Hour Later**_

* * *

Outside the Krusty Krab, a large tarp is covering something. While Squidward and Mr. Krabs are standing beside it, SpongeBob is nowhere to be found. Squidward looks at the stand, confused. "How's this going to help us? What even _is_ this?"

Mr. Krabs starts to tap his claws together in wait. "Oh, you'll see, Mr. Squidward. You'll see."

After a few moments, a _Bikini Bottom News_ van arrives and parks near the Krusty Krab. The van's back doors open, and out step Perch Perkins and Gale Doppler, with Fred as their cameraman. As they look around Squidward looks at Mr. Krabs in surprised. "You called the Bikini Bottom News?"

In response, Krabs folds his arms and smiles. "Of course! What better way to spread the news, then by using the news. It's genius!" He goes over to the news crew and shakes their hands. "Perch! Gale! Thanks for coming out. I have a new promotion and need to spread the word."

Perch happily nods. "We'd be happy to! We've run low on news anyway, so this is a great chance for a big scoop."

Gale nods and returns the handshake. "You've picked the right people to talk to. We'll spread the word faster than you can say 'cumulonimbus'." He turns to Fred, who gives a thumbs up to Gale. "Roll cameras!"

The _Bikini Bottom News_ theme plays as Perch, Gale and Mr. Krabs stand in front of the tarp, while Squidward has moved to be in the background.

Perch turns to the camera and smiles. "Hello, and welcome to the Bikini Bottom News. I'm Perch Perkins-"

Gale leans towards the camera suddenly. "And I'm Gale Doppler!"

Perch glares at Gale, before continuing. "Today we have a special report about the Krusty Krab's latest promotion. Gale, care to explain?"

Gale laughs. "I sure can, Peach. We're here at the Krusty Krab where the owner, Mr. Krumbs, has a new promotion."

Mr. Krabs glares at Gale. "It's Mr. _Krabs_. Anyhow, my new promotion is made to cool off the people of Bikini Bottom from this hot summer weather."

Squidward looks at his boss questionably. "But it's the middle of winter."

Mr. Krabs, in response, bumps Squidward away as he grabs the large tarp. "Behold!" He pulls the tarp, revealing a large milkshake stand manned by SpongeBob, who waves at the camera. Mr. Krabs goes over to the stand and pats the stand. "This here stand is the Krusty Krab's officially licensed milkshake stand, which is selling the Krusty Krab's newest food item; the Triple Dip Milkshake! Twice as delicious as a regular Double Dip Milkshake, but three times the price!" He turns to SpongeBob with a smile. "Show 'em how it's done, boyo."

SpongeBob immediately gets to work, grabbing a few cherries, some tubs of ice cream and a can of whipped cream. He opens up his head and throws all the ingredients in, before closing his head. He removes his head from his body and shakes it vigorously, even throwing it in the air a few times. After a few moments, he puts his head back on and presses his nose, causing his tongue to shoot out with two fully loaded milkshakes.

Perch and Gale share a glance, before Perch grabs a milkshake and drinks it. His eyes widen in surprise at the taste. "Wow! This milkshake is amazing!" He looks at the camera with a shiver as a blue hue overtakes him. "The K-Krusty Krab's new f-food item is s-s-so good that it'll..."

Perch never finishes the sentence, as he gets frozen in a giant ice block. Mr. Krabs gasps and glares at SpongeBob. "What did ya do, boy?!"

SpongeBob nervously smiles as he holds up some ice cream containers. "Oh! I wanted to make the milkshakes extra special for the news report, so I used ten times the recommended amount. In hindsight, it was a bit much."

Gale knocks on Perch's frozen body before turning to the camera. "Now THAT, folks, is what I call a cold weather front!" He laughs for a moment, but stops with a concerned look on his face. "But seriously, can anyone unfreeze my colleague?"

"I can!"

Everyone turns to the source of the voice. It's Plankton, who's accompanied by Karen and their food cart. "I have a solution to Krabs' blunder! One that is _truly_ useful for battling the harsh weather of the winter. Behold!"

Karen opens up the food cart and grabs a fast-food box filled with crispy, golden brown orbs. "A box of steamy, deep-fried coral chunks. Courtesy of the Fry-Right Zone."

She moves the coral chunks over to Perch, and the steam from the coral chunks melts the ice surrounding him. He notices the coral chunks, grabs them and eats a few of them, causing his eyes to bulge out in amazement. "Holy Neptune! These are a dozen times better than the Krusty Krab's milkshakes."

Mr. Krabs, upon hearing Perch, gets out a large mallet and destroys the stand in anger, scaring his employees. "Stupid lousy milkshakes! They're the eighth lowest-selling item on the menu anyway. Investing in them was stupid!"

As Perch continues eating the coral chunks, Gale walks over to Plankton and Karen. "Gale Doppler here for the _Bikini Bottom News_, and I am here with the two people that both saved my coworker and gave him the best lunch of his life. Tell us, what are your names?"

Plankton looks at the camera with a smile as he grabs Gale's microphone. "I'm Plankton."

Karen moves to his side, waving at the camera. "And I'm Karen."

The two look at each other with a smile, before looking back at the camera. "And together we run Bikini Bottom's latest and greatest fast food restaurant." They move back and motion to their restaurant. "The Fry-Right Zone, where we'll fry anything and everything your heart desires."

Gale takes back his microphone with a laugh. "There you have it folks; Plantan and Kelly's restaurant is the perfect place to warm up, and their food is the hottest thing in town. _Literally_." He laughs to himself. "And that's all the time we have for today's broadcast. I'm Gale Doppler-"

Perch suddenly moves into view in front of Gale. "And I'm Perch Perkins." Gale glares at him and moves to his side. "Thanks for watching."

Fred gives a thumbs up to the newsmen and starts packing up the equipment. Plankton and Karen go up to Gale with a curious look. "Plantan and Kelly?" Plankton asks. "You're horrible with names."

Gale just laughs. "I'm Gale Doppler, and I deny your statement. I'm great with names." He turns to Perch and Fred, who are getting into the news van. "Isn't that right, Peach Pickers and Frida?"

Perch and Fred look at each other before glaring at Gale. They close the news van's door and zoom into the distance. Upon realising that they're not coming back, Gale takes out a shellphone and dials a number. "Hello? I'm going to need a ride."

Gales walks away, and Plankton smugly smiles at Mr. Krabs. "How's the business going, Eugene?"

Mr. Krabs, in response, just scowls as he grabs SpongeBob and Squidward and walks into the Krusty Krab. "Plankton may have won this fight, but he hasn't won the war. I'm not giving up now!"

Spongebob looks at the Fry-Right Zone with a worried look on his face. "But what will we do? Plankton's restaurant is becoming so popular!"

Krabs put his claw to his chin, before turning to his employees. "We need to find out how Plankton has had so much success. I'll go into the restaurant and distract Plankton and Karen, while the two of you to do recon. If he's hiding any secrets, then you two will scout them out and tell me if you find anything. I will not let that no good thief win."

Krabs goes out the doors towards the Fry-Right Zone. He's not sure what plans SpongeBob and Squidward have to find out Plankton's secrets, but they better be good ones. For their sake, and the sake of his restaurant.


	6. The Plan

_I'm back at it again with another chapter._

* * *

Mr. Krabs crosses the street and looks closely at the Fry-Right Zone. Its large shiny exterior dwarfed the crab, but he isn't deterred; he just glares at the restaurant. As he approached, he could hear the sound of music and smell the scent of recently fried goods. He goes to put a claw on the entrance, but hesitates.

'_Should I really do this?'_ He asks himself. After all these years, Plankton has finally been a successful restaurant owner. Part of him is even slightly impressed at Plankton's success, though he would never admit it. Would he really pull the rug out from under Plankton?

Krabs shakes his head and clears his thoughts. He knew what he had to do. He would not let Plankton be the more successful one. He _couldn't_. After a few moments, he takes a deep breath and enters the restaurant.

As soon as he steps inside, he is hit with a wave of nostalgia. The walls, painted with vivid colours and patterns, are covered with pictures, decorations and knick-knacks from three decades ago. The tables and chairs are brightly coloured and wooden in contrast to the black and white tiled floors. Plastic potted plants decorate the corners of the room, and televisions hang from the ceiling, playing music videos from days gone by. One side of the room has a row of arcade machines, each with a line of kids eagerly waiting for their turn.

_'Arcade machines? Why haven't I thought of that?'_ Krabs chastises himself, somewhat angered at a missed opportunity for money.

As he was thinking, a few fish push past him, and he realises just how full the restaurant is. The place is bustling with customers of all shapes and ages. From the youngest anchovies to the oldest whales, anyone and everyone had come to the restaurant for some food. There was barely a seat left to sit on. He can see two long lines of fish in front of the register, manned by none other than Plankton himself. He scowls and goes to confront him, but a large muscular goldfish stops him.

"Hey! No cutting in line!" Several other people in line glare at Krabs, and he sheepishly goes back and lines up with everyone else. After everyone loses interest in him, Krabs exhales. This is going to be a long wait.

* * *

Outside the Fry-Right Zone, SpongeBob and Squidward sneak around the back of the restaurant. Behind the restaurant is a few dumpsters, some rat-scallops making their homes in said dumpsters, and, most importantly, a back entrance. SpongeBob goes to open the door, but Squidward stops him.

"SpongeBob, no! Plankton must have some security measures to go with his new restaurant, so the door would have an alarm. We'll have to find another way in."

SpongeBob puts his hand to his chin, thinking of a solution. He looks around and sees an answer. "What about that window?" He points to a window, opened slightly ajar. Squidward smiles, a sneaky glint in his eye.

"Perfect." He goes and opens the window more, and pokes his head in. He's found a storeroom, with shelves and cupboards filled with various ingredients from regions near and far. Searching through the storeroom is Archie, who is looking around as he tries to find a specific ingredient. He looks over to Squidward and, upon realising he's being watched, jumps up in fright and screams.

Squidward realises what's happening and quickly goes into the storeroom, with SpongeBob right behind him. He goes over to Archie and covers his mouth with a tentacle, glaring. "Shh!" Squidward whispers harshly. "Don't blow our cover!" After Archie calms down, Squidward uncovers his mouth.

"S-Squidward?! SpongeBob?!" Archie questions. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you two be working at the Krusty Krab?"

SpongeBob walks over to Archie, a nervous smile on his face. "We've been sent on a top-secret mission by Mr. Krabs, so we can't tell you."

Squidward nods. "Exactly. Now forget you ever saw us and don't tell _a__nyone_ we're here." He moves towards Archie and menacingly looms over him. "Or else."

Archie, in response, screams and faints, falling limp to the ground. SpongeBob and Squidward surround him, with SpongeBob poking him to see if he's OK. "What are we going to do with him, Squidward?"

Squidward proceeds to pick up Archie and shove him through the window they snuck through, accidentally making him land in a dumpster. "Problem solved. Let's move on." He walks towards a hallway, and SpongeBob nervously looks at the window before following Squidward. The two slink from room to room, trying to find any sign of a formula that Plankton may have. After several unsuccessful searches, Squidward peers into a nicely decorated bedroom and finds a safe.

"Aha!" Squidward says as he and SpongeBob enter the room. "There it is. The formula is probably in there."

The two move toward the safe, and Squidward takes out a stethoscope. He goes to touch it when SpongeBob stops him. "Leave this to me, Squidward. I've got a skill for cracking safes." SpongeBob then simply spins the lock on the safe, and the door opens up revealing piles of money.

Squidward smiles and starts rummaging around through the cash. "Good job. Now we just have to find the formula and... Wait a minute." Squidward grows concerned as he continues to dig through the safe, only finding more and more stacks of cash. "There's nothing here. It's just bundles and bundles of cash! Where's the formula?"

"HEY!"

The two freeze at the harsh voice. They turn around and see a _really_ steamed Karen accompanied by a confused Spot. "So, Mr. Krabs is so determined to stop our success that he's making his cronies steal from us?"

SpongeBob hides behind Squidward as he nervously touches his tentacles together. "Well, you see, SpongeBob and I have quit working for Mr. Krabs and are now safe inspectors. Under city law, we have been assigned to check every safe in town and see if they're up to code. Now if you'll just excuse us, we need to finish-"

Karen zooms past the two and slams the safe door shut as she glares at the two, her screen red with anger. "Don't give me excuses! You've broken in here and were trying to steal from us!" She turns to Spot, who is looking at the commotion with a blissful smile on his face. "Hey, Spot! These two are intruders! You remember what to do with intruders, right?"

Upon being told that SpongeBob and Squidward are, in fact, intruders, Spot loses his smiles and growls at them. While SpongeBob is afraid, Squidward scoffs. "Please. What is this speck going to do to us?"

Karen smirks. "You'll see." She turns to Spot. "Spot, use mitosis!"

Spot, upon Karen's command, begins to grow larger and larger. Squidward's smug smile fades away as he realises that the "speck" is now more than three times his height.

Karen laughs, before glaring at the intruders with a sly grin. "Spot, sic 'em!"

She snaps her fingers, and Spot lunges towards the sponge and squid. They scream and leap out of the way just in time, before running into the hallway as Spot and Karen give chase. As Squidward runs, he hopes that Mr. Krabs can keep Plankton stalled. The last thing they need is an angry Plankton.

* * *

In the main part of the restaurant, Mr. Krabs has finally moved to the front end of the line. After enduring endless amounts of praise for Plankton's food, and just being in the restaurant in general, the time has come for him to initiate his part of the plan.

The last person in front of him is served, and Krabs walks up to Plankton, who is putting money in the cash register. "Hello, and welcome to the Fry-Right Zone. How may I take your-" He looks up and realises who is speaking, and smiles smugly. "Well, well, well, look who's here in my restaurant. Mr. Eugene Harold Krabs himself. What is a crab like you doing in a place like this?"

"Well, Plankton." Krabs starts. "I've been thinking to meself, 'I should go to Plankton's restaurant and see what the fuss is about.' So I've come out here and the place is raising a lot of red flags for me."

Plankton, intrigued, moves closer. "What do you mean?"

A small, blue fish behind Mr. Krabs overhears the conversation. "Yeah, what do you mean?"

The line erupts in a cloud of murmurs, the various customers wondering what this crab is talking about. Mr. Krabs smiles. "What I mean is, ya know how chum is sold here?" The various fish nod, and Krabs continues. "Haven't you people heard of the dangers of chum? The rumours? There's a reason why the Chum Bucket was the worst restaurant in Bikini Bottom."

The crowd of fish talk to one another, remembering the hazard that was the Chum Bucket. Plankton slams his hand on the register, somewhat worried. "Krabs, where are you going with this?"

Krabs ignores him and continues looking at the crowd. "I'm saying that chum isn't safe from consumption, deep-fried or regular! If anything, deep-frying chum causes side effects!"

The crowd gasps as Plankton jumps up at the accusations. "Slander! You have no proof that my deep-fried chum causes side effects."

Krabs steps back, looking around in thought. "I do! Fer example... "He looks around and spots the perfect target; an old woman and an extremely shrivelled up... _thing_ in a wheelchair beside her. He gasps and moves towards the pair. "Dear Neptune! Look at this lady's poor child, all shrivelled up and lifeless. She had a bright future just a few days ago, but deep-friedchum caused her to rapidly age. She was forced down a path of no return. She will be remembered."

The crowd gasps as Krabs shakes his head in sadness, internally smiling due to having the crowd's attention. The old woman gets up and slaps him. "How dare you! That's my mother you're talking about!"

Krabs steps back in actual shock. "That thing is ya _mother_?"

The old woman nods. "Yeah, and she doesn't like being insulted." She turns to her mother. "Mom!"

In response, the shrivelled up thing turns to her daughter, scaring Krabs. "What do you want, Mary? I was sleeping!"

Mary points to Mr. Krabs. "This man just insulted you! He called you 'shrivelled up' and 'lifeless'."

"He did what?! Turn me towards him!" Mary does so, and Mary's mother gives Krabs the angriest glare an eyeless person could give. "I'll have you know that I've lived a long and fulfilling life over these past 197 years. I don't have to put up with insults like these. Mary, we're leaving."

Mary grabs her mother's wheelchair and starts pushing her mother towards the entrance, scowling at Mr. Krabs as she does so. Mr. Krabs looks around nervously and notices that everyone is also giving him dirty looks. He needs to think of something _fast_.

"T-That isn't the only side effect of chum! Other side effects include..." He looks around and sees another target; Bubble Bass, stuffing his face with food as usual. Krabs goes up to him. "Look! This young gentleman was a promising sports star, but chum made him bloat to this size after only four meals. What a waste."

Bubble Bass leans back, insulted. "Well, _excuse_ you. You're not the fittest person in the room either, Krabs!" He grabs his drink and pours it on Krabs, before grabbing his remaining food and leaving.

Krabs ignores the glares aimed at him and looks around, spots a three-headed fish, and goes up to him. "This man ate some chum and it mutated him; made him grow two extra heads! He had a promising future in television, but having two extra heads ruined everything. Devastating."

The fish's three heads look at one another, before frowning at Krabs. "So what if I have three heads? It makes me unique." The fish gets up and dumps coral chunks on Krabs. "Respect people for who they are."

As the fish walks away, Krabs spies an injured Fred trying to get into a chair while in a leg cast. "Chum has made this poor man's bones as brittle as glass! They break every day, and there is no known cure. Truly a travesty."

Fred gives Krabs a dirty look. "It's the combination of a genetic condition and horrific luck, jerk!" He hits Krabs with his crutch and hobbles away. Krabs dizzily walks towards Plankton, who just shakes his head.

"Krabs, are you really going so low as to propagate lies about my restaurant?" Plankton questions, a disappointed tone in his voice. "You're being really petty, you know."

Krabs regains his bearings and stares at Plankton as he puts a white glove on his claw and runs it along the counter. He looks at the glove and shakes his head. "Just as I thought; a dirty surface. What other messes are you hiding, Plankton? The health inspector wouldn't be happy with this."

"Right now, I'm not happy with _you_."

Krabs nervously turns around to find Health Inspector Andy Yellowtail and his assistant, Carl, eating at a nearby table. Andy sits up and walks towards Krabs. "I've been running a surprise health inspection for the Fry-Right Zone and it has been receiving some of the best marks I've seen in years. I'd appreciate it if you were to stop soiling this restaurant's name, especially since your restaurant is next on my list to inspect. Knowing that you're trying to undermine your opponent's business will not look good on your report." Krabs swallows nervously and nods in understanding, and Andy turns to leave. "Come on, Carl. Let's get this report back to headquarters."

Carl looks at the food that he has yet to finish, and sighs. "Coming." He jumps out of his chair and catches up with Andy.

Plankton gives Krabs a smug smile. "Looks like my restaurant has passed the test." He laughs to himself, before giving Krabs a serious stare. "Now, Krabs, what are you _actually_ here for? You've been stalling today's business for far too long, and..."

Plankton's words spring a warning into his mind. He looks over his sentence and thinks about how Krabs has just waltzed in and disrupted business for several minutes. Something's up.

"Wait a minute. _Stalling_. You've been stalling, haven't you? You have an ulterior motive, right Krabs? There's no way you'd be in here unless..." Plankton's eye widens upon realisation. "You _wouldn't_ dare-"

Before Plankton can finish, faint screaming can be heard within the depths of the restaurant. Krabs realises who exactly is screaming and his eyes widen in dread. "Oh no..."

Nearby, the kitchen door bursts open as a screaming SpongeBob and Squidward run from Spot and Karen. The two are backed up against the wall due to a growling Spot as Plankton points an accusatory finger at Krabs. "Aha! You _were_ stalling! You were distracting me so that your cronies could snoop around my restaurant. This is a new low, even for you, Eugene."

Mr. Krabs notices the glares from Plankton, Karen and the many customers are giving him and quickly shakes his head and claws in defense. "Y-You don't have proof!"

Karen rolls her eyes and points to SpongeBob and Squidward."Well then, why did I find your employees breaking into a safe and stealing our money?"

"Actually," Squidward corrects in an indifferent tone. "We didn't want the money. We were trying to find Plantkon's secret formula for Krabs."

Mr. Krabs stares at Squidward in disbelief as Plankton thinks to himself. "Formula?" He and Karen share a glance, before bursting into laughter as everyone, Mr. Krabs especially, looks in confusion. After a few moments, Plankton hops onto Krabs' nose and looks him in the eye. "There's a slight problem with that plan, Krabs; we don't _have_ a formula."

Mr. Krabs backs away in utter shock. "No formula?! That's impossible! How can you be this popular without a formula? Hypnosis ray? Paid actors? There's no way you can be popular without a formula."

Plankton shrugs. "We just deep-fried stuff and it worked. The only reason that we've become popular is that people are just too lazy to cook food." He turns to the crowd. "Seriously! When was the last time you people cooked your own food from scratch?

The crowd mutter to one another in admittance; most of them had gotten their food from restaurants for the past several years. Krabs just stands motionless, trying to fully comprehend that Plankton has been a more successful businessman than himself through completely legitimate reasons. It made him sick. Perhaps a bit _too_ sick.

Plankton looks at Krabs in concern."You OK, Krabs? You don't look so good."

Krabs tries to turn and talk to Plankton, but his legs give out from beneath him and he collapses, passed out. The restaurant erupts in a wave of shocked gasps and concerned mutterings, and SpongeBob and Squidward lift Mr. Krabs off the ground.

"Quick, SpongeBob. To the hospital!" Squidward commands as they run towards the exit, Krabs in tow. Plankton watches his fallen rival with a tinge of sadness, and Karen goes to join him as Spot shrinks to his normal size. Plankton and Karen look at each other and back at where Krabs was, wondering if he'll be alright.


	7. Winning Isn't Everything

_After dealing with a few real-life issues, I'm finally back with a new chapter! Happy reading._

* * *

Darkness. That was the only thing Krabs could see. His mind was jumbled, swimming with uncomprehensible thoughts. His head hurt, and he groaned in response. He could hear someone talking, but it was just muffled mumbling to him. After sturring for a moment, he slowly opened his eyes, quietly hissing at the amount of light in his eyes.

"HE'S ALIVE!"

Before he could comprehend what was happening, he felt someone hugs him tightly. It was SpongeBob, who had been crying and is mumbling cries of relief and joy for his boss. His head hurt again, and he groaned as he put a claw to it.

"Where am I?" He questioned gruffly. "What happened?"

"You passed out." Krabs looks to his left and sees that Squidward is sitting on a nearby chair reading an issue of _Boring Science_. "You couldn't handle the fact that Plankton was a better businessman than you and just fainted in the middle of his restaurant. So we brought you to the hospital. You're welcome."

Krabs looks around in confusion and realises that he is in a hospital bed. His mind hardly acknowledges it, however; it's still on Plankton and his successful restaurant. He still can't believe that pipsqueak has bested him in business. It's... impossible.

The door to the room opens, and in walks a purple doctorfish accompanied by a black-haired nurse. He looks at SpongeBob, who lets go of Mr. Krabs and stands by his bedside. The doctor then walks to Krabs' bed and looks at the clipboard attached to it.

SpongeBob absentmindedly chews his fingernails as he looks at the doctor, worry painted on his face. "How is he, doctor? Is he going to make it?"

The doctor, in response, laughs light-heartedly. "Don't worry. He's had a bit of shock, but he's fine. He just needs some rest and he'll be right as rain."

SpongeBob sighs in response, wiping his brow. "That's a relief."

"However..." This gets the attention of SpongeBob, Squidward and Krabs, who look at the doctorfish. "There is the slight manner of the bill."

SpongeBob and Squidward share a nervous gaze; they knew how Mr. Krabs felt about bills, no matter how small. Squidward shifts his gaze from the sponge to the doctor. "How much is the bill?"

The doctor adjusts his glasses and looks at Mr. Krabs as the nurse hands him a bill. "Well, adding up the costs of treatment, medical supplies used, the urgency of the situation and the fact that we had to clean up your employee's tears-"

SpongeBob nervously grabs his arm as he looks away. "I'm a very emotional person."

The doctorfish looks at the sponge briefly before continuing. "The bill comes to $274.73."

Mr. Krabs reaches into his pocket, takes out his wallet and stares at it. After a few moments, he sighs deeply before tossing it towards the doctor. "Here. This should cover it."

The room froze. Everyone looks at Krabs in shock and disbelief as his wallet harmlessly bounces off the doctor. Mr. Krabs. _Willing to pay money?_ This was more serious than anyone thought.

The doctor shakily grabs the clipboard with Krabs' information and looks at Krabs' employees in concern. "Are you _sure_ this is Eugene Harold Krabs? He's usually not this accepting of bills."

Squidward puts his magazine down and stands up, concern on his face. "It is. I-It's just that something's wrong with him. He'd never spend money."

SpongeBob looks around frantically, his face filled with worry as he grabs the doctor's shoulders and looks him in the eyes. "There has to be something you can do to help him. There just has to!" SpongeBob says as he starts shaking the doctor in a frantic panic.

The nurse then starts testing Mr. Krabs for ailments. She pulls out his tongue and checks it, taps the top of his head with a reflex hammer and flashes a flashlight into his eyes. She turns to the doctor with a frown. "The tests say he's fine. It could be something deeper."

The doctor rips SpongeBob off of him and looks at the nurse in a determined manner. "He needs an operation!"

The nurse nods as she grabs Krabs' bed, soon joined by the doctor, SpongeBob and Squidward. They all talk frantically as they try to move it out of the room, each pulling on their corner of the bed and accidentally causing Krabs to roll and bounce around uncomfortably. After a while, he sits up with an angered expression in his eyes.

"QUIET!" He yells, scaring the others and causing them to release the bed. Mr. Krabs jumps out of bed and starts walking towards the door. "I don't need any tartar sauce operation! I'm completely fine, and I'm leaving!"

The doctor and nurse get up and stand in front of the door. "Sir, but what about your-"

The nurse doesn't finish her sentence, as Krabs gives the two medical professionals a fiery glare. Their glasses fall off in shock and they stand aside, letting the cranky crab leave. SpongeBob and Squidward quickly chase after him, concern and worry on their faces. They managed to catch up to him as he slows to a gentle stroll. Squidward looks at his boss. "Just wondering, but are you sure you're-"

Mr. Krabs glares at him. "I'm fine, Mr. Squidward."

SpongeBob also looks at Krabs. "But what about the money? You're not really one to spend money-"

Krabs keeps one glaring eye on Squidward as he uses the other to glare at SpongeBob. "I said I'm ''fine''."

The two quiet down, and everyone silently walks down the hallway. After a while, Mr. Krabs calms down with a sigh and looks at his employees. "I know that me spending money was a bit of a shock to ya."

"No kidding." Squidward comments.

Krabs glances at him before continuing. "I know that I'm greedy, penny-pinching and all that, but that's how it is in the world of business. The more money you have, the higher you are on the metaphorical ladder. And for many years, I've been high on said ladder one way or another, while Plankton has been at rock bottom. To see him be the higher one in such a short amount of time... it just made me head spin. I couldn't believe it."

SpongeBob, who has been eagerly listening, looks at Krabs in curiosity. "But how does this lead you to willingly spend money?"

Krabs looks around in thought. "Well, since Plankton's stolen all me business and my position on the ladder, I've realised that I don't really have a reason to hoard money the way I do. To be honest, I mostly hoarded money just to rub it in Plankton's face." He laughs for a moment, but stops and sigh with a frown on his face. "But it doesn't matter now. Plankton's the better restaurant owner, and I can't do anything about that."

SpongeBob looks at Krabs with a curious look and a small frown. "Does that mean you're closing the Krusty Krab?"

Mr. Krabs looks at the sponge, a glum look on his face. "Yes. No. Maybe. I'll have to think about it."

Squidward looks at Krabs with a small smile. "Does that mean that I can have a pay raise?"

Mr. Krabs briefly glances at Squidward. "Sure, why not? I don't care anymore."

Squidward wants to smile at the news, but something inside him prevents him. He and SpongeBob share a worried glance as the three continue walking. They keep walking until they bump into an extremely short nurse, even shorter than SpongeBob. She looks at them and, upon noticing Mr. Krabs, her eyes widen. "Mr. Krabs, I've been looking for you. There's someone at reception who wants to speak to you."

Krabs looks at his employees, and the three of them follow the nurse to the reception area. Upon arriving, they notice the familiar faces of Plankton, Karen and Archie. Plankton realises who has arrived and hops towards him.

"Eugene." Plankton acknowledges as he has trouble meeting his gaze.

"Sheldon." Krabs acknowledges him with a frown.

No one says anything for a while until Plankton works up the courage to. "So I see that recovered from your passing out. I was... worried about you, so we decided to visit you and see if you were OK."

Karen moves forward and stops near Plankton. "Well, that, and we found Archie unconscious in a dumpster covered in rat-scallop bites."

Plankton glares at Karen as Krabs looks at Archie, who is wincing in pain as a doctor tries to remove a rat-scallop from his fin. "It hurts so much."

SpongeBob and Squidward nervously look at each other as Krabs sighs. "No, I'm fine. Just a bit rattled."

Plankton notices Krabs' melancholic state and becomes concerned. "You OK, Krabs? You seem depressed."

Krabs just looks at Plankton glumly. "How can I not? You've taken my place as fast-food king of Bikini Bottom. I'm reduced to a peasant; rolling around in the filth of me restaurant."

SpongeBob, Squidward, and Karen look at Krabs in surprise as Plankton takes a step back, startled by Krabs' words. "Woah, Krabs, calm down. That's a bit much, isn't it?"

Krabs shrugs his shoulders, his mood unchanging. "But it's true. I was number one, basically untouchable. The envy of fast-food owners everywhere in Bikini Bottom and beyond! But that's all changed now. And it's all because of you, Plankton."

Plankton, in a mixture of surprise and shock, shakily points a hand towards himself. "Me?"

Krabs nods. "Yes! You've dethroned me. Beaten me for the last time. Our feud is over." He bends down and leans on one leg, gesturing to Plankton. "I give up. You win."

At that moment, Plankton is filled with conflicting emotions. Joy. Grief. Victoriousness. Emptiness. He admits that while, yes, it's nice to get one up on the old crab, it doesn't feel quite right, not how he imagined it to be. A hollow victory.

As Plankton thinks, Mr. Krabs' leg gives and he falls face-first onto the floor. SpongeBob and Squidward, alarmed, quickly come to his side and help him up. He looks at the two briefly, before looking ahead. "Come on, boys. Let's head back to the Krusty Krab."

Plankton watches as the crab is slowly dragged through the hospital doors by his employees. He keeps watching until the three are out of sight, and even then he continues to watch as if watching the scene on loop. A cold metallic hand on his shoulder breaks him from his trance, and he looks up at his wife, who has a small smile on her screen.

"Don't worry Plankton. I'm sure that Krabs is just in a small depressive episode. It should be over in a few days." She picks up Plankton and holds him, hugging him slightly as she moves towards the entrance. "Let's go back to the Fry-Right Zone. We could watch a movie together. You pick the popcorn flavour."

"Sure, Karen." Plankton responds half-heartedly, his mind still on Krabs. He doubts that Krabs will be fine, but decides to leave him alone; it's the best course of action.

And with that, the two exit the hospital as they start a long, silent journey back to the Fry-Right Zone.

* * *

**_Two Weeks Later..._**

* * *

It's night-time in Bikini Bottom, and the Fry-Right Zone is closing its doors after another successful day of business. Karen thanks Archie for his work, before whirling over to the cash register and opening it, ready to count the day's rewards. To her surprise, Spot leaps out of it, wads of cash inside him.

"Hey!" She yells as she gives chase. "I thought I told you to stop hiding in there!"

Karen chases Spot around the restaurant, following him everywhere from beneath the tables to the backsides of the arcade machines. Eventually, Spot runs into the kitchen, where Karen lunges at him. She catches him and slides on the floor for a moment, before sitting up and giving an annoyed stare at Spot. The amoeba just barks and licks Karen's face, causing the computer to laugh as she gets up off the ground. The laughter continues until she looks up and spots her husband sitting on a nearby window sill. She slowly moves towards him.

"Hello, Karen." Plankton welcomes, noticing his wife in the window's reflection. He soon ignores her and goes back to looking at his main focus; the Krusty Krab.

Karen looks at the Krusty Krab as she places a hand upon his shoulder, before looking at Plankton. "You're worried about him, aren't you?"

Plankton, in response, gives her an annoyed stare. "Of course I am! It's been two weeks and no sign of him. Neither he nor his employees have come to the Fry-Right Zone, and now the Krusty Krab is deserted. Just look at it!"

Karen raises her hand, and it descends into her arm as a telescope replaces it. She looks through said telescope and sees just how abandoned the restaurant is; sea spiders have covered the place in webs, nematodes have started chewing the furniture, and a shattered window has allowed wild jellyfish to start building a hive. Karen lowers the telescope and winces at how infested the place is, before turning to Plankton. "So what are you going to do now?"

Plankton rubs his temple with his hand as he thinks. "I don't know. I've become a popular restaurant owner and driven Krabs out of business. Those were my only life goals, and now they're complete." He sits down on the window sill, a frown on his face. "I just feel so... _empty_."

"Well, it's as Krabs said: 'You've dethroned me. Beaten me for the last time. Our feud is over.' You've beaten him at his own game. You've won, Plankton."

Hearing this causes a small pain to appear in Plankton's chest, and he tries to grab at it. "Ow! Karen, I have an internal injury! It hurts!"

Karen bends down towards Plankton and scans him, before shaking her monitor. "You're fine, Plankton. You're just feeling an emotion called 'empathy'."

Plankton looks at Karen in a mixture of sourness and curiosity. "Empathy? How and _why_ am I feeling that?"

Karen rolls her eyes. "You're feeling empathy because you feel sorry for Krabs. He was a successful businessman while you were left to rot in a broken-down restaurant. Now that you're successful, the tables have turned; _you're_ the successful businessman and _he's_ the person left to rot in a broken-down restaurant. You empathise with him because you know how it felt being at the bottom of the food chain."

Plankton continues grabbing at the feeling in his chest. "I don't like it! Make it go away!"

Karen just shakes her monitor. "I can't. You're feeling empathy for Krabs, not me. You need to do something to fix it."

Plankton growls for a moment, before jumping to his feet and screaming. "That's IT! I can't handle it anymore!"

He jumps off the window sill and laughs maniacally as he hops out of the kitchen and into his laboratory. Karen catches up to him and sees Plankton putting on a jetpack and a helmet. He turns on the jetpack and starts hovering in the air as Karen's monitor displays a surprised face. "Plankton, what are you doing?!"

Plankton simply looks at her with a somewhat crazed smile. "I'm going to Krabs!"

He presses a button on the jetpack and launches himself through the roof, causing rubble to fall to the floor. Karen and Spot look at each other in shock before beginning their chase for Plankton. Karen just hopes that they get there in time before Plankton does something drastic.


	8. Emotions Aplenty

_I'm sorry that I haven't addressed it earlier, but I'd like to thank everyone for the reviews! This story blew up more than I could have ever thought. Just... thank you._

_With that out of the way, today's chapter is the emotional climax of the story; Plankton goes to find Mr. Krabs, and things evolve from there. Happy reading._

* * *

Though the night was dark and the roads barely lit by the streetlights, Plankton knew exactly where he was going as he was zooming forward at top speed. Nothing would stop him from his mission, especially as the large anchor appeared on the horizon. As Plankton sighed to himself, he was so distracted by the fact that he found the anchor that he didn't realise he was still speeding towards it at top speed.

Well, not until it was too late, at least.

With a scream, Plankton slams himself onto the anchor's front door, leaving a deep impact as he falls to the ground. Karen and Spot, who had been chasing Plankton through over a dozen city blocks, quickly arrive in an exhausted mess. Karen slowly looks over to her husband as she tries to recover from the chase. "You could have given us some warning, you know?"

Plankton returns the gaze as he pushes himself up off the ground. "I'm sorry, Karen, but this is important to me. To _us_." He starts climbing up the door towards the window as he talks, hardly looking at Karen. "I just have to know if he's alright."

Although Karen shakes her monitor at Plankton's worry, she does so in a light-hearted fashion. While she knew how egomaniacal and obsessive Plankton could be, she knew he still had a heart deep down. "Here, let me help."

She picks up Plankton, who has only made it a quarter-way up the door, and puts him on the windowsill before picking up an excited Spot. The three look inside and wince at how _lifeless_ the place is.

The living room, while unchanged from its usual look, is seemingly tinged grey from the sorrow emitted by the owner. The various decorations that usually brought life into the room, from the naval souvenirs on the walls to the nifty doll-a-rama in the corner, seemed to have their colours sucked from them. It didn't help that the room was almost silent, and no one was visible sans Mr. Doodles, who was sleeping peacefully on the carpet.

"Yeesh, what happened here?" Karen comments, somewhat unnerved. "Where _is_ everyone?"

Her question was answered by the opening of the kitchen door. The three people watching back away as to not be spotted, and watch as Pearl walks into the room, a tray of food in hand and a concerned expression on her face. She sighs as if to reassure herself, and heads towards the stairs.

"The whale being here is a good sign. If she's here, then Krabs isn't far behind." As he and the others watch Pearl walk up the stairs, he turns to Karen and nods. It's time.

On Plankton's command, Spot jumps into the door's keyhole and slips out the other side, before unlocking the door for his owners. Now having broken in, the three quietly sneak inside towards the stairs, making sure not to disturb the sleeping Doodles. The group, led by Plankton, ascend the stairs until he motions them to halt. At the top of the stairs is a long wooden hallway, and there they spy Pearl standing in front of a door, tray of food still in hand. She falters, but eventually knocks on the door.

"Daddy?" She questions, voice topped with worry. "I've made you some food. Some seaweed-less soup, just how you like it. Do you want some?" She waits a few moments, but she receives no answer. Whatever composure she had at this point melts away as she places a shaky flipper on the door. "Daddy! Please! It's been two weeks! Please come out! Please!"

Any words left in her mouth fade away as they are replaced by sobs. She falls onto her knees as she lets the food tray fall to the floor, soup spilling everywhere. Sheldon, Karen and even Spot feel sympathy for the whale, with Plankton relating with her the most. As the three are distracted by the whale, they don't hear the faint barking from behind them. As it gets louder, Spot hears said barking and barks back, alarming his owners.

"Spot, hush!" Plankton states with a mixture of sternness and alarm. "You're going to give us away!" He tries to cover his amoeba's mouth, but covering it just causes another to form at Spot's other end. "What are you even barking at?!"

Karen, who has been silent the entire time, slowly taps Plankton's shoulder and points behind them. "That."

Plankton looks behind them and his antennae droop. On the stairs below them lies an angered Mr. Doodles, who is angrily growling at the intruders. While Plankton and Karen are scared, Spot is happy that a new friend has arrived. Spot jumps towards the worm, and the worm responds by leaping onto Karen, causing her and Plankton to scream as Spot growls, realising that the worm is _not_ a friend.

Naturally, all the commotion causes Pearl to look up from her weeping and discover the chaos, and she stands in shock. "Hey! W-What are you doing in my house?"

She marches towards them, anger in her eyes and dripping mascara on her cheeks, as Karen manages to pry Doodles off her and throws him at Pearl, knocking her back. Karen picks up Plankton and Spot as she turns for the stairs. "We have to leave! Now!"

Plankton, while wanting to agree, refuses to. "No! I have to know what's happened to Krabs!"

Karen glares at him. "Well, _I_ don't want to go to jail for breaking into a house!"

Plankton and Karen devolve into bickering, though it is short-lived as Pearl tackles the two and Spot, and they all tumble down the stairs until they land in the living room a dazed mess. As Plankton and Karen regain their senses, they realise a large shadow is hovering over them. Pearl is glaring at the two of them, fire in her eyes as Mr. Doodles joins her. "What are _you_ doing here?!"

Plankton and Karen shuffle back as Spot joins them. Karen nervously laughs and taps her fingers together. "W-Well, you see-"

Pearl, however, isn't having it. "You two are just trying to steal the formula, aren't you? Well too bad! I'll never tell you. Now get out!"

As the whale and her worm move closer, Plankton is hit by a surge of bravery and hops between them and his family. "Wait! I'm not here for the formula. I'm here to see Krabs."

Upon hearing this, Pearl staggers, but puts on a somewhat menacing front. "You can't. He's... preoccupied."

Plankton shakes his head. "We all know that he is more than preoccupied. He's a depressed crab who has cut himself off from the world. Someone needs to talk to him."

Pearl thinks for a moment. While, yes, it is bad that her dad's rival is in the house, he may be the only thing to break daddy out of his mood. After some debate, Pearl exhales a breath and nods. "Fine, you can help. But no funny business, understand?"

Plankton and Karen nod, and they start to head upstairs, leaving Spot and Mr. Doodles alone. The two pets look at each other briefly, before barking excitedly and chasing each other around the room.

Upstairs, Plankton, Karen and Pearl have made it to Krabs' bedroom door. Plankton looks at Pearl, somewhat curious. "Have you even opened the door to see if he's alright?"

Pearl nods, slightly thoughtful. "I did the day he became all moody, but he hissed at me and told me to ask before entering. I've been asking ever since, but he never said yes. And now he's not even answering me."

As Pearl gets close to tears, Karen puts a reassuring hand on her back. "It's OK. We'll fix this." Her monitor flickers as her pixelated expression is filled with worry. "Hopefully,"

Karen slowly grabs the doorknob and opens the door. It takes a few moments for their eyes to adjust to the darkness, but the three spot a hammock hanging at the other side of the room, a large lump inside it. The three move closer, with Pearl moving closest to the hammock.

"Daddy? You have visitors." The figure in the hammock remains silent, agitating her. "Come on, dad! You'll have to answer eventually." The silence continues, and Pearl quietly growls in frustration. "Why are you so quiet?!"

She reaches over to the figure and turns it over, causing the three to gasp, startled. Instead of finding a crab who was a shell of his former self, they instead found his actual shell. Karen knocks on it as she scans it. "Yep, it's empty."

Plankton puts his hands to his hips as he looks around, disgruntled. "He's left his shell, so he couldn't have gone far. But where could he have gone?" He turns to Pearl, an inquisitive look in his eye. "Are you sure he hasn't left the house?"

Pearl simply nods. "Positive. I check on him constantly and he's never left. I don't have any idea where he's gone."

As Pearl talks to Plankton, Karen only somewhat pays attention to their talk; she senses something. "Hush, you two. I'm picking up some sounds."

The two, while slightly surprised by Karen's order, keep quiet. After a few moments, they hear the faint sound of crying. They all turn to the source of the noise; the ensuite bathroom. They slink towards the door and Pearl slowly opens it, revealing a seemingly empty bathroom. However, the group hears some noises coming from the bathtub, and the three look at one another. They go to the bathtub, where Karen grabs the shower curtain and moves it, revealing a rather startling sight.

Inside the rowboat of a bathtub, soaking in a brine of cold water, was the pink, quivering shell-less blob known as Eugene H. Krabs.

The trio at the curtain gasp, a combination of shock and disgust at the mass in the bathtub. The gasps cause the blob to turn towards them, properly revealing his identity to them. "What do ya want, Pearl? I'm busy marinating in my sorrows." His vision eventually focuses on Plankton, and his eyes narrow slightly. "What do ya want, Plankton? You've already taken me customers, reputation and potential money. Do ya want me house? Me daughter? Me heart and soul?"

Plankton, having time to process Krabs' blobby form, looks him in the eyestalks. "Calm down, I just want to talk with you."

Krabs raises his eyebrow, curious. "About?"

Plankton nervously taps his fingers together as he looks around, refusing to make eye contact. "It's something that I have been thinking about for the past few days, and I want to talk to you about it."

Krabs sits still, processing Plankton's statement in silence. After a somewhat unnerving silence, he nods. "Go ahead."

Plankton goes to begin his talk, but notices Karen and Pearl waiting beside him. He looks at his wife as he absentmindedly twiddles his thumbs. "It's a rather... _personal_ manner. Could you..."

He motions to the door, and Karen nods in understanding before she and Pearl leave the bathroom, with Karen closing the door behind her. The two silently look at each other for a moment, before Pearl breaks the silence. "So what do we do now?"

Karen puts her hand to her chin in thought, before looking at Mr. Krabs' shell and getting an idea. She goes over and drags it off the bed, before moving it around by the arms as if controlling a puppet. "I am Mr. Krabs. I like money. Argh. Argh. Argh."

Seeing Karen imitate her father causes Pearl to stifle a laugh, and Karen smiles as her attempt to lighten the mood succeeds. As the situation at hand was somewhat dire, it was nice to laugh and brighten the slightly dreary atmosphere.

The bathroom, however, was a different story. The air was filled with tension as silence encompassed the room. Plankton is still nervous about what was to come as Krabs stares at him, somewhat intrigued. After a while, Plankton releases a deep breath and looks at the crab. "Eugene."

Krabs nods in response. "Plankton."

Plankton tensely rubs his arm as he continues. "So... How have you been?"

Krabs simply shrugs in response. "Terrible. Horrible. But you already know this."

Plankton forms a small frown as he continues to look around. "I guess business at the Krusty Krab hasn't been good either."

Though Plankton probably knows, Krabs decides to continue anyway. "I closed the restaurant last week. Why bother keeping a dying restaurant open?"

"What about your employees?" Plankton asks somewhat genuinely.

Krabs gets up and readjust his position, before continuing. "Squidward, being Squidward, was happy. Now he had all the time in the world do what he wanted. Art, music, dancing, all that stuff. SpongeBob, however..." He briefly looks away, a guilty frown crawling onto his face. "SpongeBob was devastated. He loved working there. He even suggested, pleaded, to be the restaurant owner so that the Krusty Krab could continue. But I said no. It was time. Time to settle down and leave the restaurant behind."

Plankton swallows guiltily. "That's... not good."

Krabs senses some hesitation in Plankton. "What on ya mind, Plankton? Stop beating around the anemone bush."

Plankton sharply exhales a breath and looks at Krabs in guilt, his hands clasped together. "I never meant it to be this way."

This causes Krabs' eyes to widen as he slowly sits up, a confused look on his face. "What do ya mean by that?"

"The entire fiasco with the Fry-Right Zone. It was only meant to be a _rival_ with your restaurant. Something to prove that I could win for once without that blasted secret formula. But it all got out of hand. It got _too_ popular. It had after-effects I never predicted; mainly, the closure of your restaurant and the depression you're suffering from."

Krabs looks at Plankton in slight disbelief and anger. "So you're telling me that you putting me out of business was an _accident_?"

Plankton pulls at his antennae in frustration, mostly aimed towards himself. "Yes, YES! I created a monster! A horrific monster!"

Krabs has to pause for a few moments for his mind to come together. The fact that Plankton managed to get such sudden success on _accident_ was almost as bad as what Krabs thought was him doing it on purpose. Krabs feels anger start to overwhelm him, but he grits his teeth and just looks at Plankton. "So what's your next plan, Mr. Business Owner?"

Plankton, at this point, has started to pace around in a small circle as he mumbles to himself. "I-I don't know. I just want everything to go back to the way it was. I-I-I-I-"

Plankton dissolves into a mess of stuttering as Krabs watches, slightly worried. "Uh... You OK, Plankton?"

Krabs' words bring Plankton slightly out of his state, though his mind is still cluttered. "I-I-I want everything back to normal. I-I _NEED_ everything back to normal. I-I-I-"

Plankton suddenly shoots up and startles Krabs, though it is nowhere near as much when compared to Plankton's next words.

"I'm bringing back the Chum Bucket!"

Krabs leans towards Plankton with a surprised "What?!", causing him to slip and fall out of the bathtub. Outside the bathroom, Karen has been teaching Pearl the ways of poker, and is just about to show her a trick when she overhears Plankton's words. The sheer shock of the words causes her to barge into the bathroom, closely followed by Pearl, and stare at her husband in shock. "What do you mean you're bringing back the Chum Bucket?!"

Plankton nods at his wife. "I'm bringing back the Chum Bucket so that everything can hopefully go back to normal."

While Karen wants to support her husband, a part of her refuses to. "You've spent these past decades clamouring for a way to best Krabs, and now when you finally do, you want to throw it all away? And what about the Fry-Right Zone?"

Plankton snarls at his restaurant's name. "Forget the Fry-Right Zone! Neptune can damn it into the eternal abyss of Rock Bottom for all I care!"

Karen's screen turns a slight shade of red, angered at her husband. "This was your idea in the first place, Plankton! And besides, I, for one, like the Fry-Right Zone. It is one of the very few times in my career where I feel like I actually owned a restaurant, compared to the literal rust bucket that was the Chum Bucket."

"Karen-"

Karen rolls her eyes. "Oh, don't you 'Karen' me! Don't 'Karen' me for owning a restaurant that people_ like_ to go to!"

"Karen."

"There you go again, 'Karen'-ing me for accepting change! "Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one who knows how to-"

"KAREN!"

Karen turns to argue even more with Plankton, but calms down when she sees the big-eyed desperate expression he has. "Karen, please. Please let the Chum Bucket come back. The Fry-Right Zone was a mistake. It went too far. It caused Krabs to go out of business. It made him pass out and _get treatment to the hospital_, and he didn't even eat anything. One single restaurant shouldn't do that." He gets down on his knees and clasps his hands together, beggingly. "Karen, I know that deep down, you want the Chum Bucket back just as much as I do. As much as Krabs does." He offers a hand to her. "So please, let's bring back the Chum Bucket."

Karen goes to argue Plankton's words, but she knows he's right. While it is nice actually owning a popular restaurant, she didn't realise how much time and effort would be needed to keep it afloat. After thinking it over, she lowers her head in acceptance. "Fine, we'll bring back the Chum Bucket." She grabs Plankton and pulls him close to her, a smile on her monitor. "Only if it makes you happy."

As the Planktons reconcile, Pearl realises that her father is sitting on the floor and helps him up. Though Krabs doesn't notice; he's still in shock by Plankton's speech. "You're really bringing back the Chum Bucket?"

Plankton nods enthusiastically. "Yes, everything is going back to the way it should be." His smile falters as he thinks about a somewhat important topic. "Of course, this means that I'll have to go back to stealing the secret formula. Traditions, you know."

While Karen and Pearl glare at Plankton, Krabs just smiles. "I wouldn't have it any other way, Plankton."

With that, the Planktons bid the Krabs farewell, getting ready to bring back the Chum Bucket and restore balance to their lives. It may take a while, but in the end, the wait will be worth it.

* * *

_I have one more chapter planned after this; a sort of epilogue. Though not set in stone, I plan to post the chapter by the end of the week. We'll just wait and see._


	9. The Epilogue

_Here it is, the final chapter of this story. There are a few Author's Notes at the bottom, as I have some stuff to talk about. Anyways, happy reading!_

* * *

_**Two More Weeks Later...**_

* * *

The _Bikini Bottom News_ theme plays as Perch Perkins and Gale Doppler are seen smiling at the camera, two very familiar restaurants in the background. "This is the Bikini Bottom News." Perch begins, before pointing to Gale. "He's Gale Doppler."

Gale smiles smugly as he points to himself. "And I'm Gale Doppler."

Perch's calm demeanour breaks upon Gale's words, and he turns to his co-reporter with a glare. "No, Gale, you're supposed to say my name! We've practised this!" He freezes as he realises that he is being filmed live, and calms down as he smiles sheepishly. "N-Now for today's news."

Gale suddenly leans in with a grin. "Today's top story: the extremely successful restaurant the Fry-Right Zone has closed down as the owner, Shelly G. Plantan, decides to reopen his less successful restaurant, the Chum Bucket." Gale's smile falters as he speaks the name of the loathed restaurant, but soon perks up again. "We interviewed Shelly earlier, and this is what he had to say on the subject."

The news report is interrupted as pre-recorded footage is played, showing Perch kneeling next to a sombre Plankton. "So, Plankton, why have you decided to close down the most successful restaurant in town and bring back the least successful restaurant in town? Are you insane?"

Plankton steps closer to Perch as he fiddles with his fingers. "No, no, I'm not insane." He pauses for a moment to take a deep breath, before continuing. "When I opened the Fry-Right Zone, I was thrilled. The business, the popularity, the money; everything was perfect. But then..." He briefly looks around as he swallows, body filled with remorse. "Then I found out the bad side of the deal. The emotional impacts that fame can have on a person; specifically, a person really close to me. And when I discovered just how bad the impacts were..." He struggles as he feels tears welling up in his eye. "I couldn't take it. I knew that everything had to go back to normal. No amount of fame was worth seeing them in that much pain. I... I..."

His composure disappears as he starts crying into his hands, and Perch momentarily looks at the camera in shock. The footage ends, and the news report continues as Gale keeps leaning towards the camera. "Thrilling."

Perch leans in towards the camera as he pushes Gale out of view, a strained smile on his face. "In other news, the closure of the Fry-Right Zone and subsequent reopening of the Chum Bucket has led to the reopening of the restaurant, the Krusty Krab, which has quickly regained its former fame and fortune. The restaurant's owner, Eugene H. Krabs, declined a chance for an interview." He scowls to himself at a lack of an interview, but quickly regains his smile. "And that's all the time we have for today. I'm Perch Perkins-"

Gale suddenly pushes Perch out of view with a competitive smile as he looks at the camera. "And I'm Gale Doppler! Thanks for watching."

Fred, the cameraman, gives the newsmen a thumbs-up as he starts packing the equipment away. Perch marches back to Gale with a large frown. "Has anyone ever told you that you have an _enormous_ ego?"

Gale Doppler simply laughs. "I tell myself that all the time. It really helps with self-confidence. But enough of that; how about I get us some Krabby Patties for the road?"

Perch's anger shrinks at Gale's offer, and he smiles. "Sure, why not?"

Gale laughs and he puts an arm around Perch as the two head towards the Krusty Krab. "I knew you couldn't stay mad at me. Oh, I also left my wallet at the news station, so can I borrow 10 dollars?"

Perch's face warps into one of extreme sourness as the two enter the Krusty Krab's doors and line up behind a very long line of customers. At the front of the line, Squidward wearily looks at the line before glancing at Mr. Krabs, who is standing next him counting a large wad of cash. "Mr. Krabs, can you take over? I've been serving customers non-stop all day. I need a break."

Mr. Krabs briefly glances at Squidward before looking back at his money. "Sorry, Squidward, but business is business. You know what these customers are like without food." He pauses as he notices the octopus' saddened expression, and quickly looks between him and the money before putting the money away with a sigh. "You know what? Go on your break. I'll take over."

Squidward looks at the crab in shock as he gets out of the workstation. "T-Thank you, Mr. Krabs."

Krabs just smiles as he gets into the boat. "Don't mention it, Squidward. But only five minutes. Understand?"

The octopus enthusiastically nods as he goes outside for a fresh breath of air. Mr. Krabs begins his turn of serving the masses and, after taking a customer's order, gives it to SpongeBob as he starts putting pennies in the cash register. He sighs deeply has he hears the 'ka-ching' of the cash register "Oh, how I've missed this life." He looks down and notices a stray penny has fallen into the boat, and picks it up. "You can't escape from me that easily, penny. You need to step up your game."

Suddenly, the penny makes a slight beeping sound as one of the sides opens up and Plankton jumps out. "Guess who?!"

Mr. Krabs freezes momentarily, shocked by the fact that the penny stepped its game up many more levels than expected. SpongeBob serves a Krabby Patty with an "order up!" and Plankton quickly steals it. Krabs soon comes back to his senses and chases after the thief, ducking through the crowd of customers. Eventually, Krabs stops Plankton by grabbing him by the antennae. "Nice try, Plankton. You almost got me there."

Plankton, in response, smugly smiles at the crab. "What can I say? I wanted to make my return to thievery really special. And what better way than to use money against you."

Krabs laughs for a moment before looking at Plankton in content. "It's good to be back to chasing you around me restaurant."

Plankton shares the smile as he nods. "It's good to have you back."

The two look at each other for a few seconds before Krabs straightens up and moves to the restaurant's entrance. "Are you ready, Plankton?"

The plankton, in response, nods. "Ready, Krabs."

Krabs opens the Krusty Krab's entrance and rips the patty out of Plankton's hands, before flinging the robber across the street so hard he slams into the Chum Bucket. Plankton dizzily gets up and looks back at the Krusty Krab as he sighs in nostalgia. Even though it hurt getting flung into his bucket of a restaurant, he got used to it at this point, and he wouldn't have it any other way. He soon stops reminiscing and goes inside the Chum Bucket.

Inside the restaurant section of the Chum Bucket, Karen is seen playing some poker with Spot, who is beginning to eat his cards. Karen looks up and sees Plankton, before whirling towards him and picking him up. "I see your attempt at stealing the secret formula was unsuccessful, as always."

Plankton simply nods. "I know, but I'm still a bit rusty. Give me a few weeks and I'm sure I'll have it." He looks up and notices the slight frown on Karen's monitor. "Is everything alright, Karen?"

The computer sighs as she looks around the restaurant. "Yes, yes. It's just that I somewhat miss the Fry-Right Zone."

In response, Plankton puts a caring hand on her screen. "I know, Karen, but it's for the best in the long run."

Karen nods absentmindedly as she looks around. "I know it's for the best, but I still miss some of the stuff we had. Health and safety codes, functioning restrooms, money, all that stuff."

Upon hearing this, Plankton gains a sly smile on his face. "Well..."

He hops out of Karen's hand as he begins to walk deeper into the Chum Bucket. Karen looks at Spot, confused. "Sheldon?"

The computer and amoeba follow the plankton into the Chum Bucket's maze of hallways. Eventually, they all stop before a closet as Plankton smiles at Karen. "The thing about the Fry-Right Zone is that it was made solely from the Chum Bucket, and vice versa. No extra materials were needed."

Karen tilts her monitor in confusion. "So?"

Plankton rolls his eye at her, slightly agitated. "Well, that means that little-to-no money was spent, and none of the Fry-Right Zone customers asked for refunds."

Karen puts a shaky hand to her mouth, realising where Plankton is going. "You don't mean..."

The plankton nods as he jumps up to the door handle. "Oh, yes I do." He jumps up and lands on the handle with a stomp, forcing it down and opening the door, where a seeming 'closet' is actually filled with several stacks of cash, coins, and other items.

Karen, upon seeing the wealth, squeals as she grabs Plankton, before smothering him with kisses. "You _brilliant_ evil genius! With this money, we can finally do some renovations! Some paint jobs, new furniture, an updated capture card for myself. The stuff we can do with this money... Near limitless."

"And," Plankton butts in. "With this money I can create schemes the likes of which Krabs has never seen!" He starts to rub his hands together evilly as he giggles to himself. "Oh, yes! First the formula, then Bikini Bottom, then the world! Watch your back, Krabs!"

He begins to laugh maniacally, and Karen soon joins in, while Spot jumps about excitedly. The family continue to laugh for a long while, and at such volume that it can be heard throughout town, causing shivers of fear in many civilians. Across the street, Mr. Krabs is counting more money as he hears the laughter, and his mood darkens as he realises just who the laughter belongs to. Whatever the Plankton family's next move is, whenever it may be, Krabs needs to be prepared for anything; they are _NOT_ to be underestimated.

* * *

_And that's it. The end of "New Restaurant on the Block." It was definitely a bit of a ride. But before I leave, I want to talk about some things._

_First off, I'd like to thank everyone who has read, favourited, or reviewed this story. I had no idea that it would get so popular, and it's only my first story. Thank you all._

_Secondly, I have a few more stories in mind. I'm just getting started. __However, I'm currently studying for some high school exams, and might not be able to post and/or update any stories for a while._

_And on that note, this has been PvZ Fan, signing out._


End file.
